Russian Arctic Strategies and Recent Deals
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Russian Arctic Strategies and Recent Deals July 12, 2012 Wilson Center Canada Institute Julia Nanay Senior Director Russia and Caspian Service Executive Conclusions . Russia’s strategic interests in the Arctic include: – Developing natural resources – Establishing a transportation route to Asian markets – Sustaining claims for seabed boundaries – Strengthening national security . Russia’s Arctic will become the core hydrocarbon producing province as production from the West Siberia legacy fields drops. Non-oil mineral riches are another strategic focus . Besides providing fiscal incentives to develop frontier fields, the government is leading with funding transportation infrastructure to help develop the Arctic and monetize its resources . The Northern Sea Route is of key importance as it meets several of Moscow’s strategic goals, including export diversification and the development of non-oil industries (shipbuilding, nuclear) . The offshore Arctic provides for huge resource potential (particularly in natural gas). Several strategic deals concluded recently between Russian state company Rosneft and leading IOCs suggest that Moscow is ready to offer access to resources in exchange for technologies, project management expertise, and financing Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 2 Natural Resources Drive Arctic Development . Russia’s Arctic is a key gas producing region. As Soviet legacy giants like Yamburg, Urengoy and adjacent fields have passed their production plateau, new Arctic gas fields in Yamal present the only comparable alternative . Besides hydrocarbons, the region is estimated to hold strategic reserves of various minerals. This creates an even more compelling reason for the government to spur the development of this region – The minerals include chromites, black-iron ore, phosphates, copper, bauxites, diatomite, barium, gold, etc. Resource development is contingent on infrastructure. Under the so called “Urals Industrial – Urals Polar” initiative launched in 2005, the governments of the five Russian regions of the Urals Federal District develop transportation networks – This includes a major Arctic railroad connecting developed areas in Yamal’s south with strategic production sites, including Gazprom’s Yuzhno-Russkoye field, Rosneft’s Vankorskoye field, and the production site of Norilsk Nickel – the world's largest producer of nickel and palladium Source: PetroView, PFC Energy Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 3 Russian Government Provides Incentives Regions Receiving MET Concessions . To incentivize new production, Moscow provides tax concessions to develop Greenfield regions. – Concessions for the Mineral Extraction Tax (MET) are provided for specific regions on a long-term basis – Concessions/exemptions for the Export Duty are provided on an ad-hoc basis for specific fields State-Led Pipelines Source: PFC Energy . Another support is the development of BPS-2 infrastructure Zapolyarnoye – The East Siberia – Pacific Ocean (ESPO) -Purpe pipeline allowed for a new oil export outlet, ESPO providing the impetus for developing Eastern Siberia fields – State-owned Transneft is building a new oil pipeline to export crude from yet-to-be- developed Arctic fields near the Yamal Peninsula Source: PFC Energy Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 4 Moscow Pursues Export Diversification, Promoting Other Industries . Development of new options to access global markets is Moscow’s strategic goal. In the Arctic, the Northern Sea Route (NSR) is a key project: it is expected that full scale development of the route will not only be logistically advantageous, but will also drive the development of additional oil, gas and non-hydrocarbon resources – Using the NSR may result in as much as 40% less travel time and 40% lower fuel costs in comparison to the trip via Suez. However, to be competitive with the total transportation costs through Suez, the tariffs for needed ice breaker support will have to be 25% lower than they are now. This can be achieved through economies of scale (higher traffic) . Another strategic dimension is the multiplicative effect of the NSR’s realization on different industries, including shipbuilding – one of the six key sectors where Russia has a comparative advantage globally and which it therefore prioritizes – For Yamal LNG, ice class LNG carriers are to be constructed in Russian yards – The world’s only atomic icebreaker fleet operated by Rosatomflot – an arm of Rosatom National Nuclear Company – will be utilized to support LNG transportation. Rosatomflot plans to build three new generation ice breakers by 2020. The investments are estimated at about $1 bn per ship and will be financed from the federal budget . Moscow also seeks to benefit from commercializing the NSR internationally. The first foreign exporter to use the route in 2010 was Norway’s Nordic Bulk Carriers, which delivered iron ore from Norway to China. In 2011, for the first time, a Suezmax-size tanker carrying 120 thousand tonnes of condensate for NOVATEK sailed through the Source: Nordic Bulk Carriers NSR to Thailand. Overall, about 1 mmt of cargo were shipped through the NSR in 2011. Moscow expects to push this up to 5 mmt in 2012 and to as much as 60 mmt in 2020 Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 5 Russia’s Long-Term Oil and Gas Prospects Are Offshore… . Russia’s continental shelf is the largest in the world: its combined territory exceeds 2.4 Russia: Offshore Resources Distribution million square miles, of which over 1.5 million Okhotsk Sea Bering Sea Black Sea square miles is expected to hold hydrocarbon 18% Azov Sea 1% 0% 0% reserves Chukotka Sea Caspian Sea 3% 2% East-Siberian . Russian Arctic reserves are likely to be mainly Sea comprised of gas 6% Barents Sea Laptev Sea 24% 3% a e S Laptev ts Sea n e a r r East Siberian Sea a a a Kara Sea Pechora Sea B K e a Sea S 38% 5% Pechor Russian Arctic Russian Federation g in er a Black B e k S s Sea t o h k a e Ukraine O Kazakhstan S Sakhalin Mongolia n Caspian Sea Black a i U p z Sea be s k a Tu i rk stan a e m en China C S i stan Exploration Maturity Iran Source: PFC Energy Developing Frontier Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 6 …With the Strategic Focus on the Arctic Shelf Russia : Offshore Ga s Re se rve s Distribution Kara Sea Okhotsk Sea 30% 11% Barents Sea Caspian Sea Kara Sea 5% Pechora Sea 1% Pechora Sea Barents Sea 53% Russia : Offshore Oil Re se rve s Distribution Source: PetroView, PFC Energy Caspian Sea Okhotsk Sea 8% 32% . Arctic shelf reserves are mainly gas: over 4 tcm (~140 tcf) of recoverable gas reserves discovered on Russian Arctic Shelf . Strategic priority areas for primary development: Barents, Kara, Okhotsk Seas . Rosneft and Gazprom control most Pechora Sea 60% licenses; private companies participate via farm-ins and JVs Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 7 Russia’s Offshore Blocks Source: PetroView . Exploration in Russia is focused on the Arctic offshore and Okhotsk Sea. Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 8 Rosneft’s Blocks Offered to IOCs Source: PetroView, PFC Energy . Rosneft owns licenses for projects in all Russian offshore basins. Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 9 Summary of International Oil Company (IOC) JVs with Russian state company Rosneft ExxonMobil Statoil Eni Stake in Russian projects 33.30% 33.30% 33.30% Spending Commitment Finance exploration Finance exploration Finance exploration JV Projects in Russia Kara Sea: Vostochno- Barents Sea: Fedynsky, Arctic offshore Barents Sea: Perseevsky Prinovozemelskiy 1,2,3 Tsentralno-Barentsevsky Magadan 1, Lisyansky, Okhotsk Sea offshore Kashevarovsky Black Sea offshore Tuapsinskiy Trough Zapadno-Chernomorsky Bazhenov formation in Shale oil in South Russia, Onshore W. Siberia (tight oil) Viscous oil in W. Siberia Creation of the Arctic Technical Expertise Offshore Scientific Project Center JV Projects outside Russia to be developed with Rosneft Unconventional acreage TBD (potentially include Norwegian offshore Upstream in US and Canada. US North Africa, Alaska, exploration GOM exploration Northern Europe) Downstream Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 10 What Prompted IOC Interest: Putin’s Promise of a New Offshore Tax Incentives . In April 2012, the Russian Government proposed a favorable tax regime for new offshore developments with four categories based on location and intended to reflect the level of development challenges: 1. (easiest) Azov Sea, Caspian Sea, shallow water Black Sea 2. Baltic Sea and deepwater Black Sea 3. Barents Sea, Pechora Sea, southern areas of Kara Sea and Sea of Okhotsk, Sakhalin Shelf 4. (most difficult and receiving most incentives) Laptev Sea, Bering Sea, northern sections of Kara Sea and Sea of Okhotsk . New projects in the Russian offshore would also get exemption from export duties . Additional incentives include eliminating property and value added taxes on imported oil and gas production equipment that is not manufactured in Russia . A “stability period” for each category of fields guarantees longer term tax incentives. This stability period could range from 5 years to 15 years, depending on the field category . The new offshore tax regime is to be implemented by 1 October 2012 Russia and Caspian Service | © PFC Energy | Page 11 Russian Interests Coincide With IOC Interests . Russia’s strategic interests include leveraging ties with IOCs to build international validation, bring technical skills and financing for risky offshore exploration – ExxonMobil